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This is another instalment in my ongoing series of articles on the life of William Joseph Henry BATEMAN and his family from Australia. This is an ongoing research project and if you can provide further information then please get in touch.

William Joseph Henry (WJH) BATEMAN and his wife Annie Clark BULL (nee MCCONACHY) were married on the 22nd April 1905 in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. So far I have only found details for three children, certainly only three appear to have survived into adulthood, and I have found no evidence to suggest that there were any other children.

William Thomas Henry BATEMAN (born 1906)

Their first child was a son, William Thomas Henry BATEMAN. According to his entry on the WW2 nominal roll, he was born on the 1st October 1906 in Melbourne, Australia. More specifically his birth registration index entry states that he was born in Carlton, Victoria.

His names all appear to be family names, but of course I can’t say for certain if this is the reason for the choice or whether it is just a coincidence.

William

from his father William Joseph Henry BATEMAN

Thomas

from his maternal grandfather Thomas MCCONACHY

Henry

from his paternal grandfather Henry BATEMAN

Dorothy Marguerite BATEMAN (born 1909)

WJH and Annie’s next child was a daughter, Dorothy Marguerite BATEMAN, born in 1909. Her birth registration index entry gives her place of birth as Port Melbourne, Victoria.

The name Dorothy probably comes from WJH’s mother Dorothy Isabella BATEMAN (nee KINGHORN), but I have no idea where the name Marguerite comes from.

Reginald Graham BATEMAN (born c1913)

The third child was another son, Reginald Graham BATEMAN who was born around 1913. I don’t have his exact date or year of birth because the online indexes don’t cover 1913 yet. The information I have comes from the fact that Reginald was 56 years old when he died in 1969.

Interestingly Reginald was the name of Annie’s first husband, but it is hard to believe that she would have named a son after her dead husband. The name Graham was the surname of WJH’s maternal grandmother, but possibly both connections are coincidences.